Thursday, December 15, 2011

FROM LOS ANGELES TO RANCHO MIRAGE

A grueling drive down from rainy
Los Angeles to Rancho Mirage. It is about the drabbest drive there
is anywhere on earth. The New Jersey Turnpike is like the 17 Mile
Drive in Carmel by comparison.
We always make a lot of stops because, well, because we're
old and get tired easily. I visited with people at a hotel in
Ontario, then at a CVS and a gas station in Calimesa, and at a
Bob's Big Boy. I am like a small town politician and my district
runs along Highway 10 from Los Angeles to Rancho Mirage.

In Rancho Mirage, we stopped at Pavilions to buy a few
animal food things. The immense superstore was eerily empty. Only a
few elderly men and women, alone, not in couples, shopped carefully
for cat food and casually for frozen TV dinners. They looked
desperately lonely. What if I were one of them? And how much it
evokes my father when my mother died. He was miserable until he met
a woman who took him to concerts at the Kennedy Center. Then he was
happy. A good woman is everything.

I had wandered far away in the store from Big Wifey and
suddenly I could not see her any longer. I got frightened. What if
she were gone? What if I were alone without my wife? I was totally
scared. I don't want to be 67 and alone. Or any age and
alone.

I scurried around and found her smiling her big Denman
grin at the checkout counter. Now, it's Christmas. My gift from God
was standing there looking at magazines. The most beautiful,
kindest, smartest, most loving, most generous woman, with the best
sense of humor on this earth. The best creature I have ever
encountered and I get to have her as my wife. It is Christmas all
year long. I think my wife has more of the spirit of “love thy
neighbor as thyself" than anyone else I have ever met. She's
literally the best person on the planet and I get to call her Big
Wifey! CHRISTMAS! EVERY DAY!

We got home, unpacked, rested, then went up to the
clubhouse for dinner. There was almost no one else there. We
watched C-Span, by far the best reality channel there is, as we
ate. On air was a calm, extremely thoughtful debate between the
next President of the United States, Newt Gingrich, and the next
Vice President, Jon Huntsman. This was a scholar's debate. Long,
intelligent answers, no glib bullet points, no wisecracks, no
zingers. Just a super smart analysis of foreign policy and defense
issues.

My wife and I were awed. These guys have it over Barack
Obama and Joe Biden by so much it's almost unbelievable. They are
truly impressive. Newt's position on defense -- get the best
defense you can and need and then figure out how to pay for it;
sequestration -- the worst possible way to play the budget game;
Iran -- the greatest threat on the planet -- all of these were
brilliant. He loves America. He loves Israel. He loves freedom. He
is not bent over with self-loathing and conflict. I like
him.
This is vital: Newt stands up for America. So does Mr.
Huntsman. I see them as dynamic campaigners and I see Newt knocking
Obama out in every debate. Comparing Mr. Huntsman with Joe Biden is
just plain cruel to my neighbor from Delaware.
I like these guys and now I have hope. If I were Mr.
Obama, I would be worried.

Then, back home and a long, long swim under the stars.
Perfect. We have a lot of worries at home in town with intruders
and scary lawyers. But out here, it's calm and peaceful. It's
Christmas.

About the Author

Ben Stein is a writer, actor,
economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes
"Ben Stein's Diary" for every issue of The American Spectator.

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About Me

A Texan who loves the truth and hates the lying, cheating, and deliberate prevarication that characterizes so much of our civic discourse these days.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RIPOSTE, n. 1. Fencing: a quick thrust after parrying a lunge 2. a quick sharp return in speech or action; counterstroke.
- The Random House Dictionary of the English Language...........
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